recap

Ready or not!

My tiny baby is already one week old. I just can't believe how quickly the last week has gone. So here is how the last week has gone. Brace yourself... this is a long post.

Last Tuesday night we dropped Grace off at my parents house since we had to be at the hospital so early the next morning. We headed off to a nice childless dinner at the Cheesecake Factory... yum! The next morning I woke up at 4:30 (anxious to meet my little girl) and couldn't go back to sleep. We were out the door by 6:30. I was hooked up to an IV by 8:30am. My doctor came in and broke my water. Then by 9am they started pitocin to get things moving. They checked me around 10 and I was still just a 3! I was actually sad that I wasn't progressing and thoughts of a c-section were entering my mind. I got my epidural at 10:30am which was great b/c I was starting to have quite a bit of pain. Which I think helped to relax me a bit to I could dilate. By 11:30am I was progressing slowly... I was only a 4. But 45 minutes later I was having LOTS of pressure so the nurse checked me again and I was 9! The next 20 minutes flew by with nurses running around getting things ready. They made me lay on my side b/c they said it slows the baby down. The doctor got there checked me... I was ready to push. I pushed 3 times and her head was out! One more push and she was here by 12:38am. What a shock! I still can't believe how quickly it went, especially since just 2 hours earlier I was thinking I would be there all day. I couldn't have asked for a better labor and delivery.

Emma was born crying. She actually cried for nearly an entire hour. At first I couldn't get her to nurse, but she finally calmed down to nurse a little bit. Thankfully that is really the most I have ever heard her cry. Over the past week she has only cried a handful of times. Even when she wakes in the middle night she doesn't cry... she just starts squirming in her bassinet. I'm hoping that this continues. She has turned into a great little nurser... eating every 3 hours during the day and at night has gone 5 hours! She still sleeps most the day and night and has an awake period in the evening. I keep wondering when she is going to wake up, but then again I'm also hoping that maybe she is just a laid back baby like her daddy was. I think Emma looks a lot like my baby pictures, but others will beg to differ :) She doesn't have nearly the amount of hair that Grace did and it seems to be lighter in color. Her eyes appear to be a grayish blue (like Gracie use to be), but who knows what color they will end up being. Overall she is just the sweetest little blessing and a joy to add to our family.

Grace is also just as in love. She can't get enough of the baby. When she wakes up in the morning or from her nap she always wants to know where the baby is. She wants to hold her and kiss her to the point that I'm surprised Emma hasn't told her stop. While I'm thrilled that Grace loves her baby sister so much, I'm hoping that the new-ness wears off quickly.

We also had Emma's first pediatrician visit this week. She weighted in at 8lbs 2ozs (her birth weight was 8lbs 7ozs) and is perfectly healthy. We couldn't ask for more.

And now here are more pictures than you ever wanted. We have been snapping away, they have just hanging out on our camera waiting for me to post in all my spare time (HA!).

Our little helper